A quick thank you...

There's a bunch of follow-up to be done, but for the moment, let me start off by saying a bunch of thanks yous right here and right now.

First of all, huge thanks to everyone who came out, rode, donated, and overall kicked ass. Near the end there, I announced that the total haul was 852 lbs of food. But I was wrong. I wasn't counting the non-race donations, and I was totaling individual weights, and rounding-error stack-up blahblahblah... well John from Food Gatherers shot me an email yesterday and when they weighed it all on the big scale back at the warehouse - 1005 lbs.

Holy Guacamole, folks... that's half a ton.
I was hoping to do better than last year, and secretly, I dreamed of 1000 as a target for this year, and well... there we are. Speechless, me.


OK, I take that back, not exactly speechless. I'll go on here a little because there's more thank yous to pass along. Cranksgiving Ann Arbor had a bunch of very generous sponsors this year, and I am grateful for their generous support. My goal with the prizes was to have an incentive for people to haul lots of food and do it fast. Not just riding fast, but not just carrying heavy cargo, either. It worked out better than I could've hoped. 41 people, 1000lbs of food. That averages out to ~25 lbs each. Wow.

Attracting people to benefit a good cause goes a lot easier when there are prizes to be won too. I will admit to some amount of flat-out cold-calling, and it just goes to show how classy some folks are - our sponsors came through and made the prize pool splendid indeed.

Special Huuuuge Thanks to Emily and all the folks at Surly. They chipped in this huge prize pack of really cool stuff (jerseys, hubs, hats, flasks, tools, and more...) that arrived just in time, and I was very glad to be able to spread that stuff around to the people who hauled in food. I wasn't planning on having a title sponsor, but if you count it by the prize donations, Surly was it. They make cool stuff - you should check them out. (One day, when I have space and money for it, I'm getting myself a Big Dummy. I swear... hauling big stuff without the trailer hassle? Sign me up.)

But that's not all - importantly (to me), Swobo came through early on (months ago) in the prize donations, and that support was a big part of trying to make a good event. Thanks Stevil, for the support and donation, and indirectly, motivational support. People talk about community of bike people, and everyone knows the people in their neighborhood, but when you see it come from all the way over in a different time zone, I know that people on bikes, wherever they are, are the good kind of people. (and if you haven't read Stevil's blog, you should. good times, that.)

But let's not forget all the other sponsors... Go with what you know, right? Well... I have a tendency to reach out to suppliers of my drug(s) of choice, and when it comes to around town, it's Arbor Brewing Company and Mighty Good Coffee.

Rene and Matt at ABC are just...well, pillars of the community around here. Not only do they make tasty beer, but they sponsor lots of events for good causes, are active with developing a vibrant downtown, and put their money back into the community. I, for one, and very glad they're here. Thanks to Matt and Rene and Beth for the contribution of the mug club membership. When Rex had first pick at prizes, the mug club was the first thing he wanted, and for good reason.

Dave at MGC not only chipped in coffee beans and tires to the prize pool, but brought brewed coffee to the race for everyone. OK, I lie... Wendy actually brought it. But Mighty Good Coffee is good bike people, and good coffee people, and that's goodness to go around. I got the impression that they pedal beans to your door...(?) Invested in local community, making good product, environmentally conscious? Sweet.

And still in Michigan... a big thanks to Velocity in Grand Rapids and The Hub Of Detroit for helping out with the prize pool. Velocity makes sweet rims, and wheels, and all kinds of other stuff, and has been supporting and promoting racing for as long as I can remember. The Hub (aka Back Alley Bikes) is not only a bike shop, but as half of what they do is a place for a local cycling outreach and education. Bringing more bikes to more people in the city, and sharing knowledge. Good stuff.

And not to forget Yancopads for their support - they make sweet hats and frame-protecting pads for your urban bike-padding needs, and their generous support for this and other events around these parts.

OK, so that wasn't exactly quick thank yous, but that's just because I go on and on. So I'm going to stop now. I'll get results posted after I type 'em in... soon, soon, I swear.